Yet another international basketball competition, yet another disappointment from a USA squad culled from the ranks of NBA superstars and slapped together in a few weeks to try to outlast a field made up of teams that have been working together so long that the players know each other’s extended families.

The U.S. will move on to the bronze medal game against the loser of Spain-Argentina, but it will be their flopperoo in the semis against Greece that will stand as testament to its continued impotence in world play. The team will eventually disperse, the Americans will move on to their various business interests and prepare for their pro seasons, and the FIBA World Championships will be yet another irritant in the memory.

Yet this one was more than just the run-of-the-mill sleepwalk through an odd-shaped lane. It was a microcosm of everything that is wrong with USA basketball on an international level, and a stern reminder that the remedy is not right around the corner.

Unfortunately, this may be the fate of USA basketball for the foreseeable future, no matter how many character guys they bring in. Get used to it.

The USA lost to Greece, 101-95, in the first of the two semifinal games in Saitama, Japan Thursday night after a disturbing collapse that saw the Americans go from a cushy 12-point lead and an apparent breeze to a four-point deficit at halftime and a shocking shift in momentum. It was the first time Greece had ever beaten the U.S.

Mike Krzyzewski is one of the best coaches on the planet. I can’t believe he doesn’t teach his charges how to defend the pick and roll. And yet, there were the Greeks in the third quarter, running it to near perfection while the Americans stood helplessly and watched it happen. Greece hit 14 of 18 shots in the third.

Coach K surely hammered home the point that a disciplined possession with lots of ball movement is preferable to jacking up long-range and low-percentage perimeter shots. I’m sure he touched on that. And yet, there they were, baffling the world with their playground antics, banking on their individual talent like so many red-white-and-blue losers have before them.

And what about defense? It’s not about each player hustling. It’s about cohesion, with all five players working together. The Greeks had far too many easy, uncontested buckets. They also shot the ball well from the perimeter. They had averaged 81 points for the tournament and beat that by 20 against the Americans. They shot a whopping 63 percent for the game.

If Krzyzewski is the guru of defense, he should find some new disciples before Beijing in 2008. And that’s if the U.S. can even qualify for the Olympics, which it will now be forced to try and do next summer as a result of this defeat.

Although the Americans are taking steps to establish a more consistent international program, there are certain realities they may never be able to overcome.

They just can’t get together and practice as often as players from other countries. The demands of the NBA season make a fully committed international team almost impossible. As a result, the Americans keep putting themselves in a position to fail against teams like Greece, for instance, which doesn’t have a single NBA player but is tenacious, intelligent, poised and unified.

There also may be something in the mindset of the typical NBA player that prevents him from successfully adapting to the international game. One-on-one, isolation basketball is what the Americans are raised on. Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Chris Paul, et al., are conditioned to be The Man and bail out their teams in times of stress. That’s the antithesis of international play. The Greeks and others put their egocentric temptations aside for the good of the team.

That’s not to say the Americans are uncontrollably selfish. By most accounts, this is a squad of good guys who have signed on to the team concept and sincerely want to resurrect USA basketball. They may just be incapable.

It was not an embarrassment to lose to the Greeks. After all, they won the European championships last year, and while their players are household names only in their own country, they command respect on the world stage. The embarrassment came in the way the Americans lost.

They seemed to be in position to win handily in the second quarter. Instead, they looked dazed and unable to cope as Greece stormed back and took control. The sight of LeBron, D-Wade, Carmelo, Dwight Howard, Kirk Hinrich and the rest looking on as a team of young men they probably had never heard of in U.S. basketball circles took it to them at their own game was somewhat unnerving.

Since 1994, when the U.S. won its last world championship, it has usually put a team on the floor that has appeared listless and apathetic. The players seemed as if they were competing because their shoe companies asked them to. That wasn’t the case here. This new crop of NBA superstars is worthy of admiration because of a positive attitude and a dedication to the task at hand.

But none of that means anything if the Americans keep making the same strategic errors and continue to reveal their inadequacies in international competition. They might as well have Stephon Marbury and Allen Iverson grousing on the bench if the U.S. is going to keep producing the same disappointing result.

The phrase “It’s Greek to me” refers to something that is hard to comprehend. For the Americans in international basketball, it should be their new motto.

Michael Ventre is a contributor to MSNBC.com and a free-lance writer based in Los Angeles.

Jerry Colangelo, Mike Krzyzewski and a young corps of American players built a team that offered hope to American basketball throughout the first two weeks of the world championships in Japan. But much of that hope faded with a disheartening 101-95 loss to Greece in the semifinals on Friday.

Greece's victory served as a reminder that the new process of building a U.S. national team is not something that will happen overnight. The international game is a different one. It is based on ball movement, offensive execution and physical play, and on this night, it was clear that the Greeks were much more comfortable in that setting.

After pounding the ball inside to its big men in the first half, Greece altered its tactics in the second. The Greeks began to run a high screen and roll almost exclusively, with the floor spread and shooters all over the court. Elton Brand and Dwight Howard were exposed by the constant perimeter screens, as they were forced to help on the Greek guards then make up lots of ground in recovery. Greece was so good cutting and moving without the ball that Brand and Howard were unable to keep the Greeks from finding lanes to the hoop for easy scores.

Eventually, Coach K went to an entirely small lineup that switched on every screen, but by that time the Greeks were rolling. With the U.S. unable to force many mistakes, Greece patiently took its time, worked the high screen and roll and found open shooters. The team shot 63 percent from the field and played with great confidence.

At the other end of the floor, Greek coach Panagiotis Yannakis did a masterful job mixing up his defenses. Greece played man to man, zone and a combination of both at times, throwing off the Americans a bit and slowing the game down.

The U.S. relied heavily on one-on-one play from Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade, and while both players came through with big nights, there was never any rhythm or flow to the American offense. In effect, the difference between the NBA game and the international one was epitomized in the way each team played offense: Greece played together, moved the ball and cut hard to the basket. The Americans stood around too much, relying on their athleticism.

With the loss, the U.S. is assured of finishing no better than third in the tournament. But I've been impressed by what I've seen from this group. The roster was selected well, with versatile players and high-character guys. The coaching style was the right one, playing small lineups and running. And the players genuinely seemed to care for one another, putting the team ahead of themselves. Remember, we couldn't say any of this after the Athens Olympics.

I believe Colangelo is on the right track to bring USA basketball back to the top. The process is a good one, and I think the people and coaches involved are the right ones. But the process will take time. It won't be good enough for Team USA to simply play hard and play together. The Americans will have to play together for a few years, learn the international style and have a better grasp of the rules.

But Colangelo's goal from the beginning was to win the gold medal in Bejing in 2008. With two years left until then, the process of building an Olympic champion will continue. But as the U.S. found out Friday, the process can be a painful one.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Vassilis Spanoulis – Every time the Americans threatened in the second half, Spanoulis, who is headed to the Houston Rockets, came up with a big play. He scored 22 points with a mixture of threes, drives to the hoop and free throws. Spanoulis epitomized a Greek team that played with great poise and confidence all night.

SEQUENCE OF THE GAME

Trailing by 12 points midway through the first half, Greece looked like it was in trouble. The Greeks were struggling to find an open shot against a stellar USA defense and appeared to be on the verge of being blown out. But that's when Greece began to exploit its major size advantage, pounding the ball inside to the huge Sofoklis Schortsianitis, who helped to completely turn the tide in the Greeks' favor. Schortsianitis, looking every bit like "Big Baby" Glenn Davis of LSU, had his way with the American big men by running the floor, getting great position and taking the ball strong to the hoop. His play ignited a 24-8 run that gave Greece a four-point halftime lead. More importantly, it gave the Greeks the confidence that they could indeed win the game. They came out of the blocks quickly in the second half, built a lead and were never caught.

STAT OF THE GAME

11 – That's how many turnovers the Greeks committed against the U.S.'s pressure defense. It was the fewest amount of turnovers forced by Team USA in the tournament. By taking care of the ball, Greece never allowed the Americans to get into an up-tempo style. Instead, the game was played in the half court, where Greece took advantage of superior offensive execution.

BEST PLAYER ON THE LOSING SIDE

Carmelo Anthony – He personally kept his team in the game with aggressive offensive play in scoring a game-high 27 points. Despite the loss, Anthony has been the biggest bright spot for Team USA at the world championships. He has been the go-to guy, and he has shouldered a big load. Anthony's development as a player and teammate seemed to improve by leaps and bounds the past couple of weeks, and he looks like he's ready to elevate his game.